Who we are

Get to know us

You are here

The World Scout Centre

Kandersteg International Scout Centre, founded by Lord Baden-Powell in 1923, is the World Centre of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement.

The World Organisation of the Scout Movement is the World’s leading educational youth movement with over 50 million members around the globe, in over 200 countries and territories, and more than 100 years of history. KISC is recognised as WOSM's World Scout Centre because of its historical and worldwide relevance to the Scout Movement.

Our Vision & Mission

We want to create a better world, of sustainability and peace, through international Scouting.

Our mission is to bring Scouts of the World together in an alpine environment, raise awareness over sustainability and global issues, and to empower young people in the creation of a better world.

Staff structure

Since 1923 the Centre is run by scout volunteers. Specific volunteering types are creating a broader staff structure.

The Short Term Staff are Scouts and Guides who come to work to Kandersteg for a season of 3 months. The link between the seasons is the Long Term Staff who has specific job roles from 4 to 12 months. The Centre is led by the Director who is employed by the KISC Association to run the Centre strategically. The Director is supported by the Senior Management Team, who are working here for 3 years. During busy times, Ex-staff comes and help in areas where needed.

KISC Association & Foundation

The 'Scouts International Home' Association was founded with the Centre in 1923 and has since then developed into the 'Kandersteg International Scout Centre' Association.

The Association has currently over 550 members in almost 50 countries around the world. The Association is a non-political, non-profit and non-denominational organisation (see the Statutes of KISC Association). The members range from individuals to National Scout Organisations or businesses. Being an Association Member means contributing to the development of young people by enabling KISC to run its operations. Download the latest Annual report of the KISC Association in English, and in German.

General Assembly

The General Assembly of the KISC Association is open to all its members and is held every two years at KISC to decide the overall direction of the Centre.

It is during this meeting that we report on the operations of the past years, approve the accounts, elect members of the Committee, as well as take strategic and governance decisions. The next General Assembly will happen in 2020. More information will be published at a date closer to the event.

Committee

The current committee consists of a total of 16 people, with one co-opted member for specific work.

Every four years, during the General Assembly, Members of the Association elect 12 Members of the Committee - six National Scout Organisation representative and six individual members. Four seats are fixed for respective bodies. The Committee is responsible for reviewing the Centre on a regular basis and aiding in the development and future policies of the Centre.

KISC Foundation

When in 1994 the New Chalet got built, the decision was taken to create a Foundation with the aim of taking care and management of all KISC buildings and properties, the so-called Kandersteg International Scout Centre Foundation.

The Foundation board is actively involved in fundraising. The members of the Foundation Board are elected by the KISC Committee. By this procedure, it is ensured that both boards work closely together and plan further improvements and enhancements of the Centre's property together.

Policies

Over 12’000 Scouts and Guides visit Kandersteg International Scout Centre every year.

The success of the Centre is based on many factors and a very important one is the ability to keep scouts safe from harm. To ensure the commitment of the Centre to create a safe environment for children and young people, the KISC Association Committee has compiled several documents and policies that address potential risks to keeping our guests and staff safe from any kind of harm. They are developed, maintained and updated individually, with the aim of contributing to the overall safety of our guests and staff at the Centre.

Our Environmental Policy is designed to minimise our impact on the environment, be that locally or globally (i.e. the reduction of harmful emissions from our buildings and vehicles). Our Environmental Team, also made up of Long and Short Term Staff, regularly analyse and audit our performance, giving ideas on how we could lessen our impact. Read here more about it.

Privacy Policy

Kandersteg International Scout Centre considers your privacy of the utmost importance and we take due care of the security, integrity and confidentiality of your personal data. Answers on questions about what type of data we collect from you, what we are using it for and where we store them can be found in our Privacy Policy.